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Cameron Montalvo drives for a living and said there’s no way to avoid Loop 1604.

“It’s horrible. Traffic builds up (on) I-10 and Northwest Military before I-35. It’s chaotic,” he said.

In 2017, the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board voted to fund the expansion through a toll, but recently, the Texas Department of Transportation began steering away from projects that required tolls, said Bexar County Commissioner Kevin Wolff, AAMPO chairperson.

“We here locally had a toll plan that would have started construction on (Loop) 1604 already. That’s no longer viable,” Wolff said. “We asked the state, 'OK, we can’t use the toll, give us non-toll money,' now were just waiting on the answer.”

Wolff expects TxDOT’s commission to take up the request at the end of this year or early next year. The delay means the expansion groundbreaking is on hold until the funds are allocated.

AAMPO has about $400 million set aside for the project. It needs TxDOT to pick up the tab for about $500 million.

Wolff said the design plans remain the same, but there will be an added improvement to transfer from Loop 1604 to I-10.

The new interchange will look similar to the one being built on Loop 1604 and U.S. 281.